Reviewed by John Irvine

Giaches De Wert (1535-1596) originally came from Antwerp, but spent almost all of his professional life in Italy in the service of the Gonzaga's of Mantua. He acted as the Maestro di Cappella of both court and church in which capacity he was responsible for composing music both for worship and for secular entertainment. Little of his religious music has survived, and the majority of it appears on this disc. This is definitely a slightly offbeat release: De Wert is fairly well-known to the experts, and especially to those in continental Europe, but to ordinary classical fans like you and me he is a bit of a mystery! One of his pupils was Claudio Monterdi, who I'm sure you've heard of! De Wert was not famous for his religious music and it came second to his secular madrigals. His religious music had to conform to the strict demands of his patron and the Counter-Reformation church. Did that mean that he wrote bland, faceless music to satisfy his duties in church, leaving music of talent for the secular field? No - his music compares favourably with his contemporaries and has much to entertain and interest lovers of "early music" as well as students and scholars. Even the combination of voices and brass instruments is unusual and intriguing. There are some real gems here too which should not go unheard: "Ascendents Jesu" to my mind perfectly captures the majesty of Christ commanding the wind and waves and calming the storm. A useful compliment and contrast to his contemporaries Palestrina and Monterdi. Investigate.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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